True Love
by ThatOneWriter186
Summary: Read the sweet beginning love story of Sonic and Shadow. Sonic just turned seventeen, and Shadow shows up at the huge party everyone throws for the birthday boy. Though, through one look could this change both of their opinions about one another and their entire lives forever.
1. Chapter One - The Stare

The party really started to bounce when the night fell and the colorful lights came on. Laughing, screaming, and singing was heard throughout the huge Speed mansion. Dancing, smoking, and drinking could be seen also. What they were smoking will remain without name, but it was only in good fun anyway. Then a huge eruption of cheers and applause sounds. Walking from the stairs was the man of the hour himself, Sonic Maurice Speed the Hedgehog.  
>He waved and smiled, flashing those pretty white teeth. With all the lights and music, he looked like pop-star, so pretty and perfect. He was cut so cleanly, so straight, so simply. The white button up with rolled up sleeves and faded jeans. His emerald green eyes sparkling like the gem itself. His perfectly trimmed quills and not a blonde hair out of place on his Faux-Hawk hairdo. He truly was a pretty boy in the government world.<br>He waved and gave out a thank you here and there to people saying happy birthday. On this day he turned the age of 17 years, and yet he was one of the richest men in the United States, which made him feel pretty good. He was living a life that not a lot kids get to live, so he thought he was pretty damn lucky. Sure, he risked his life everyday by making enemies with an evil genius, but he seemed not to care. He loved the pay. Who wouldn't?  
>Sonic reached the end of the stairs and talked with several guest when he finally got to his real friend, Miles 'Tails' Prower the 'Two-Tailed' Fox and Knuckles Rhoden the Echidna. Tails was a year younger than the blue hero, but he seemed a lot more mature. He talked rather scientific and used elongated words. This made him fairly succumbed by the ladies. The same went to Knuckles, but he didn't have the smarts that Tails had. He knew a lot of medical procedures, even extreme, emergency surgeries which was helpful to have on the team, but that wasn't the only thing he brought to the table. He was born with an uncanny ability for strength. He could lift a whole bus if he wanted to, tear through even the hardest metals and concrete. It was rather useful many situations.<br>Knuckles had a beer in his hand and Sonic eyed it, "…Please? Just a sip?" Knuckles shook his head no.  
>"Nope, you are too young. Your brother would murder me if he found out I gave you a beer," Knuckles said. This was true, even Sonic admitted. His older brother, Manic Julian Speed, was rather protective of his brother. Raising Sonic since he could barely read, Manic had developed a motherly bond with his younger sibling. The brother's mother and father, Bernadette and Julian Speed, were supposedly killed in a fight with Dr. Ivo Robotnick, and though the two lived with their Uncle Chuck, Manic basically took over. He would supervise everything Sonic did in his life, fix anything he didn't like in Sonic's life. To Sonic this was rather annoying, like how any teenager would feel, but to everyone else, even to Sonic's friends, it was rather sweet.<br>Sonic crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, "like he would find out." Knuckles looked at him with his purple judging eyes. Tails chuckled.  
>"You know he would, Sonic. Just like how he found out you snuck out of the house that one night to party with Knuckles and I. His sense for his younger sibling is quite remarkable," he states. Sonic looked at him oddly.<br>"How is that remarkable? What's remarkable is that you got into that party." Sonic smirked at his comment, and Tails rolled his eyes.  
>"Erinaceous europaeus, oh how stubborn you are." Sonic made a look by Tails' excessive words, then just shook his head.<br>Sonic looked around, then widened his eyes a bit, "whoa guys, look. Isn't that Shadow?" The fox and echidna looked over in the direction Sonic's head was to see a dark furred hedgehog with red accents leaning up again the wall.  
>"Wow, look at that, he did show up," Knuckles said, more to himself than to the others. Sonic looked up at him.<br>" 'Show up'? You mean he was invited?" Knuckles nodded.  
>"Yeah, Amy saw him and thought he looked lonely or whatever so she invited him. Why? Is that a problem?" Knuckles asked curiously.<br>Sonic looked back at the tall, dark hedgehog, "no, but isn't it a little awkward? I mean, I'm not really his cup-of-tea."  
>Tails looked at him, "Sonic, what is the probability that through this whole crowd many different species of guests that you two are going to even run into one another?" Sonic only stared at his friend. Tails sighed, "one in about two hundred, alright? I think you have nothing to worry about." Knuckles chuckled.<br>"Yeah, and plus, if you weren't 'his cup-of-tea' or whatever the hell you said, than why did he show up in the first place?" Sonic thought about that.  
>"That's true." Knuckles nodded.<br>"There you go, and if you're that hell bent on avoiding him, just stay in a different room. God knows you got plenty." He takes a sip of his beer.  
>Tails crosses his arms, " 'have plenty', Knuckles."<br>"Oh, who gives a fuck?" Knuckles sure didn't, it seemed.  
>Sonic chuckled by his friends' debate. Then the crowd grew loud by singing happy birthday to Sonic, and about three people came before him with a large birthday cake, and just for him, it was a 'Batman' cake. He gasped and smiled wide. Crazy haired, punk dressed Manic came up beside him and wrapped an arm around Sonic's shoulder. When the song was finished, Sonic blew out the seventeen candles on his cake and everyone cheered.<br>Manic kissed his little brother's temple much like a mother would, "Happy birthday, Sonic."  
>"Thanks, Manic." Sonic turned and hugged him, then let go as Manic began to cut the cake for everyone who wanted a piece, giving the first piece to Sonic.<br>As he ate his cake with his friends, Sonic looked around once again and accidentally caught eyes with Shadow Graves, the dark hedgehog Sonic was fussing about. Shadow and him stared at each other for quite a bit before Shadow finally looked away. Sonic blushed slightly at this current event, and though Shadow had stopped looking at Sonic, Sonic couldn't pull his gaze away from the dark hedgehog. He watched the attractive, tall, crimson eyed hedgehog walk to the gift pile, put a small box down, then leave the party house.  
>Sonic looked away from the door, a little frightened and he couldn't figure out why. His face must have said it all because Knuckles and Tails were trying to get his attention.<br>"Sonic? Hello, you there?" Knuckles nudges him, "are you alright?"  
>Sonic looked up Knuckles, then at Tails, "I… Yeah I'm fine. Great." He fakes a smile, "hey can you hold my plate for me? I'm going to get some water from the fridge." Tails nods and takes the paper plate.<br>Sonic goes into the kitchen and grabs a bottle of water and starts jugging it down his dry throat. Sonic was so freaked out by the encounter, he was nervous, and he had no idea why. When he emptied the bottle, he threw it away and stared at the sink, just thinking.  
>'Why was staring at me? What did I do? Did I do something to piss him off? Oh god what was that look for?" he sighed and sat down at the table, resting his head on the cool surface, and without meaning too, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.<p> 


	2. Chapter Two - The Morning After

Later that party filled night, Sonic woke from the table to see everyone gone and the house quiet. He sat up and wiped the drool from his face, then stood to find people. "Manic?" he called, and foot steps came from the stairs. Manic had bags of trash in his hands.  
>"Yeah? Oh, gees, your face is all red." he set the bags down and examined his face, "why did you fall asleep? Did Knuckles give you some beer?" he asked suspiciously. Sonic rolled his eyes.<br>"No, I was just tired…" Sonic explained. He closed his eyes, the light irritating them. Manic's hands went from his little brother's delicate face to his shoulders. He frowned sympathetically.  
>"Well, why don't you go ahead to bed, you can open your presents in the morning." Sonic nodded and began to head upstairs, then Manic added one more thing, "Oh, and wash your face thoroughly, your friends had way to much fun with it." Sonic stopped, then sighed. He went to the bathroom to wash off the writings and artwork Tails and Knuckles did him.<br>Sonic went to bed with out putting on pajamas, just took of his outer clothes, including his socks, and crawled between the sheets. His body felt stiff and heavy from sitting at the table bent over for so long. His mind went back to Shadow and the stare they shared. Yes, it was just a stare but Sonic felt like it was something more than that, as crazy as it sounded.  
>'…Maybe he did that on purpose. Maybe he wanted to confuse me!' he thought, and the more he thought about that possibility, the more it made sense to him. Shadow had a history of thinking up ways of torturing the younger, blue hedgehog. No matter where or when, he had a way of making Sonic hate him. Sonic's eyebrows furrowed and he sighed, "god damn it, and I fell for it!" he sighed, "Well, it's the last he messes with me. From now on, I will completely ignore him." Mentally agreeing with this decision, he closes his eyes calmly and falls asleep.<br>The next morning, Sonic awoke to the sound of the maids, butlers, and cooks working, a normal sound to wake to. He sits up and yawns, looking around his dark room. He smiled slightly when his eyes averted to the window, to the outside world. It was sunny, bright, and green, a great start to his 17 year old life. He couldn't wait until his summer break to really celebrate it. Fun in the sun with his friends, and getting in trouble with them too. Tails, Knuckles, and him could really trash a skate park.  
>Of course, it isn't all that fun when Sonic had to constantly have to worry about Dr. Robotnick coming to destroy him and the entire world. Sonic was always on edge about that, even now he was. He could attack any moment, just smash down the house Sonic was sitting in now, killing a lot of people, possibly even his older brother, Manic. Sonic sighed at the thought and stood from the bed and went to the bathroom.<br>After going pee and taking a much needed shower, he walked back into his bedroom to get dressed. Picking out a red and white checkered button up and a pair of faded pair of jeans, he primped and preened himself accordingly. He styled his hair in his normal faux-hawk and combed his quills neatly, then he walked out of his room. He smiled at the various maids and butlers, then Vanilla's little girl, Cream Jones, who was only six, ran to him and he scooped her up. "Well, good morning, Princess Jones," he greeted.  
>"President! President Cream Jones. I read that presidents have a lot more power than a princess would," Sonic only stared at the young girl and smile.<br>"Okay," he sets the young girl down and goes to the kitchen where Vanilla made a breakfast of sausage, eggs, and toast with the fruit and drink of his choice, which was usually an apple and milk. He loved apples and he ate them with almost every meal, even dinner. He was a popular patient at the doctors, being so healthy.  
>He received his breakfast and smiled at Vanilla, "Vanilla, why don't you eat with us?" he asks, feeling guilty she wasn't eating with the rest of the family. To Sonic, his older brother, Manic, and the housekeeper, Vanilla Jones, were his father and mother, while little Cream, Vanilla's daughter, was his young sister. Not having a real family when growing up besides Manic and his uncle, Sir Charles Speed, he replaced a real, biological family with the money-bound people that took care of his every need.<br>Vanilla only smiled sweetly, "honey, we go through this every morning. I eat before you and I am not hungry, I'm fine." She set Manic's food down and left to get Cream's. Sonic ate quietly as he read the other side of Manic's morning paper. He eyes widened slightly at the front page headline: EGGMAN SURRENDERS? Sonic read the passage that was under a picture of his nemesis in hand cuffs:

On July 1st 2014, the world's most infamous doctor, Dr. Ivo Robotnick or Dr. Eggman, was arrested downtown when he entered the police station to surrender and turn himself in at 8:34 P.M. He was went quietly even though the crowd that gathered continued to shout aggressive comments and curses as they threw rocks and aluminum cans. CONTINUE TO 'EGGMAN' ON PAGE 3.

Sonic read in silent thought, feeling a sense of uneasiness that maybe it was a trick, and Manic must have sensed the uneasiness radiating from the young hedgehog because he looked at him and set the paper down. He looked at him with those ice blue eyes and sighed, "…I was hoping you wouldn't read that."  
>"How couldn't I? It's the surrendering of Dr. Robotnick, I would have hear about it anyway," he said, taking a bite of his cheesy eggs. Manic nodded slightly.<br>"I know," he said quietly, "but I know what you're thinking." Sonic smirked.  
>"Oh you do, huh?"<br>Manic nodded, "yes, you're thinking it's a trick, that he is planning something."  
>Sonic looked down, "…nu-uh." Manic gave him a, 'really?' look and set down his fork with a clink.<br>"Sonic, I know how you work. You think that the big guy is planning something world threatening and you drive yourself crazy, almost sickly, trying to figure out once. I'm begging you please, just accept this one," he said as Sonic sighed. Sonic didn't answer for a bit, thinking it over, but then he raised his eyebrows and looked down in defeat.  
>"Fine," he said, still chewing sausage, "I won't even think about it." Manic nodded.<br>"Thank you, now hurry up because once you're done, you can open your birthday presents." Sonic smiled and continued to eat.  
>When he was finished, he walked to the pile of huge presents with a smile, looking at all the various of sizes of the wrapped presents and wondered what was inside. He picked up a smaller box and shook it. Birthdays for Sonic Speed was that having two Christmas' a year, so many presents from people, some he didn't even know. This small box was from a girl named Elaina Wadsworth, and when he opened it, was a folded up pair of women's panties. His eyes widened and his cheeks flushed, setting the creepy present down. He picked up another, and since this present was from Knuckles, he wasn't too nervous. It was a Nintendo DS game, Super Mario Brothers, a game Sonic loved. He smiled and set it down.<br>Sonic opened the rest of the gifts, finding quite some treasures that included everything from chili makings to a brand new guitar. Sonic then found a black box, but what made this black box so different, so nerve racking, was that it was from the notorious Shadow Graves. He stared at the black box for a bit before slowly lifting the lid revealing red tissue paper, which hid a golden ring bracelet, Shadow's golden bracelet. Sonic's mouth gaped open, in both shock, and anger. Sonic felt played, like Shadow was making a joke at him. He closed the box and set it down angrily with slam. Manic walked in nervously.  
>"Are you alright, Sonic?" he asked. Sonic looked at him with eyes filled with fiery eyes, but those green eyes calm down.<br>"…Yes. Yes I'm fine." he says, sighing as he looked at the box.


	3. Chapter Three - The Argument

The remainder of that day was quiet. No one came to the house and no one left. Sonic was deep in thought at he took his things into his room. 'Why would Shadow do that to me? He's such a jerk at times... I don't understand! What did I do to him?'. Sonic closed his eyes and sighed. Maybe he did do something but Sonic couldn't remember. 'Well... it was still a shitty thing to do. Thinking that maybe Shadow had a thing for me by giving the ring to me for my birthday. "Happy Birthday, Faker! Let me get your hopes up for no reason!" God...' Sonic put the last thing away in his room when his Iphone buzzed on his nightstand.  
>He sat down and on his bed and picked it up, unplugging it from its charger. He had gotten a text message from Tails. "Would you like to accompany us for the remainder of the afternoon at the boardwalk, my fine friend?" Sonic smiled, and went downstairs.<br>"Manic!" Sonic called as he ran down the stairs.  
>Manic was on the couch, "Yeah?" he asked.<br>Sonic leaned on the back of the couch, "I'm gonna go to the boardwalk with Knuckles and Tails."  
>"Did you finish your homework?" Manic asked, his one eyebrow up a bit. Sonic rolled his eyes.<br>"Yes..."  
>"Okay, what time do you think you'll be back?"<br>Sonic grabbed his skateboard, "I don't know."  
>"Okay, I'll text you when I want you back home."<br>"Okay, bye." he waved and walked out. He let the board down and he went off. Yes, he could run there if he wanted to, but he liked using his skateboard. It was a present he had gotten from Manic about two Christmases ago. How he kept from breaking it, no one knows.  
>He got to the boardwalk of Mobius and saw Knuckles and Tails at the entrance. Sonic waved and joined them. The exchanged some greetings then went off into the boardwalk itself. They played a few games, did some pranks, had a good time. The trio sat down, drinks and chili fries in hand. Knuckles looked at Sonic, "so what did you get from the random strangers that partied and had sex in your house?"<br>"As presents? Just random shit. One chick gave me her underwear... and I'm pretty sure they've been... um used..." he said.  
>"Ew, that's nasty," Knuckles stated, making a face. Tails nodded.<br>"Quite grotesque."  
>Sonic shrugged, "well, that's what happens when you're just as awesome as I am." Knuckles rolled his eyes.<br>"Oh yes, cause everyone who is rich and famous get girls' used panties."  
>"Yup!" Sonic smiled. They laughed, and continued talking.<br>After a bit, Tails looked over and watched people just walking and laughing, then he nudged Knuckles, "hey, look. Its Shadow." Sonic looked over, and there indeed was Shadow. He was walking with Rouge De La Grange, a close friend of his. She was a white bat with colored hair. The month it was bright hot pink with green streaks in it. She was more into an alternative style. Cyber-goth is what she called it. She wore mostly black clothing with heavy dark make up. Her ears were stretched to a 00 gauge, and she also had many other piercings along with tattoos. Many thought Shadow and Rouge were a couple by the amount of time they spend together, but Shadow pushed that they were just friends. They were playing a game and laughing. Well, Rouge was laughing, Shadow was simply smiling.  
>Sonic's eyebrows furrowed as he stood from his seat. Knuckles looked at him, "Sonic, what's wrong?" he asked.<br>Sonic didn't look at Knuckles, he was fixated on Shadow. "I'm going to talk to Shadow for a minute, excuse me," he left the table and began to walk over to the ebony hedgehog and white bat.  
>"Hey Shadow, what brings you here?" Sonic asked in a rather aggressive tone. Shadow looked over at him.<br>"Oh, hey Sonic," he said with his much deeper voice, "Rouge and I are just hanging out," he leans over and sees Knuckles and Tails, "and I see you're here with your little clique." He smile faded a bit.  
>Sonic crossed his arms, "Yeah, I am. So, Shadow, how did you like the party last night?" Shadow looked at Sonic.<br>"I didn't go to your party last night."  
>Sonic's eyes widened, "oh really? You're going to lie to me now?"<br>"I'm not lying, I seriously didn't go."  
>"Oh yeah!?" Sonic was furious now. He brings out Shadow's ring from behind him, "then what the hell is this then, hm?"<br>Shadow gasped and looked at it, then looked at back Rouge. She looked at the two with worried eyes. Shadow then looked back at Sonic, "Okay... um... can we go talk abo-"  
>"No, Shadow! I don't want to talk about it! Leave me alone, you jerk!" he said as he threw the ring at him and he walked back to Knuckles and Tails. They watched him sit down angrily.<br>Knuckles was the first to speak, "...Sonic, you okay?"  
>"Yeah I'm fine."<p> 


	4. Chapter Four - The Truth of Friends

Shadow got out of the silver Prius with haste when it parked in the covered space. Rouge watched Shadow go behind the row of cars and walk onto the sidewalk leading deeper into the apartments. She sighed and unbuckled herself from the car, following the ebony hedgehog.  
>"Shadow, come on!" she called, trying to catch up to him. He took a left, in the direction of his apartment. He unlocked his door, walked in, and closed the door again. Rouge tried to open it, but he had locked it. She thought about unlocking it with her spare key, but decided if he was so upset that he locked the door on her, it was best to leave him be until he himself wanted to talk. She sighed, "Okay, well… I'll be right across when you're ready," she called through the door.<br>Shadow heard Rouge's own door unlock then close as she entered. He sighed and looked up, pain becoming apparent as a tear slipped down his face. He had never felt so rejected before. Sonic completely humiliated him at the boardwalk only minutes ago, throwing his gift to Sonic back to Shadow and yelling at him for it. Shadow looked back down, looking at the bracelet in his hand. He felt himself about to break down until his attention was brought to a rather large feline sauntering up to his feet.  
>Shadow smiled softly at the mewing cat as he knelt down to its level. "Hey, Alastor," he greeted. Shadow, being already an animal lover, was very fond of cats. He had owned two in the past, sisters named Hermione and Jenny, from the Harry Potter series, but when they both passed away from old age, leaving sad Shadow to mourn them, Rouge decided to take Shadow to the shelter. There he found a large, lonely, seven-year old cat, which had been named Basil at the time. Shadow was drawn to the older cat when he had seen the cat was missing one eye. He adopted the feline that day and changed his name to Professor Alastor 'Mad-eye' Moody, also from the Harry Potter series.<br>Shadow pet the black furred cat, then scooped up the beast, snuggling into his soft fur. Alastor mewed in objection, since he wasn't very fond of being picked up, but Shadow didn't do so until he got his share of cuddles. When he let the cat free, he stood and wiped his eye, composing himself again. He followed Alastor through the small apartment to his food bowl, which was low on food and water. Shadow picked it up, which caused the tiny, domestic panther to howl. Shadow sighed, "such a loud kitty you are."  
>"M-ow."<br>"Oh is that so?"  
>"M-ow. Reow."<br>"Wow, your day wasn't very exciting then huh?"  
>"Rr-Rr-Rr-Rr."<br>"Thought so," Shadow said as he turned, a full dish of food and water in hand. Alastor had moved in front of Shadow's feet so he nudged the cat in the butt, "come on." The cat mewed again and turned to walk to his feeding area. Shadow placed the blue, cheap plastic dish down and let Alastor eat.  
>Shadow watched him a bit, thinking about Sonic. Yes, Sonic had yet to come out as homosexual, but most of everyone knew that he was attracted to men. He had only dated one person, and that was rumored to be only a cover for the media; he broke it off very quickly, like any celebrity does. He had told Tails and Knuckles in confidence that the girl and him and never even kissed, or barely talked for that matter. Shadow had gained this knowledge through Rouge, who had gotten it from Tails. He wasn't very good at keeping secrets.<br>This was then that Shadow came out to Rouge that he was gay, and he had grown feelings for the young teenage hedgehog. At first, she thought it was weird simply because Sonic was so much younger than he was, but soon she just learned to flow with his odd feelings. She told him to just to tell Sonic, "the worst he could tell you is no". Apparently she was wrong. He had said so much more…  
>He sighed and walked back into the kitchen to make himself some tea. As he did so, he grabbed his Samsung phone and started to text Rouge.<br>'Hey…'  
>'Hey, how r u doin?'<br>'I'm fine. Do you want some tea?'  
>'Sure. BRO.'<br>Not a minute passed when he heard the door open then close, indicating the gothic, French bat was inside. She walked to the kitchen, knowing that's when her sad friend would be. Shadow looked up at her, phone in hand, "why is 'bro' all in capital letters?" he asked.  
>"Be right over? Come on, Shadow. I know you're not very text savvy but really?" she stated, pulling her pink hair up into a bun. Shadow shrugged.<br>"I honestly thought you were just calling me 'brother' very intensely." This caused the white bat to laugh.  
>"Wow," was all she had to say. She watched him take out a lemon from the fridge and cut a slice of it, then he looked at her to ask her the question he asks when she has tea.<br>"Half or whole?" and she would normally ask for a whole, but today she wasn't really feeling the lemon so she opted for the half. He then cut the whole slice in half and put the two slices into two separate coffee cups. He added the sweetener then the hot water. He then took two tea bags out and sat them inside the cups.  
>Rouge took a sip, then looked at Shadow, "…do you want to talk about it?"<br>Shadow set his drink down, "not entirely."  
>"Shadow, you have to talk about it at some point, I mean… you seemed… shattered. Now all of the sudden you're fine? I don't buy it," she argued.<br>Shadow looked at her, "well you're not supposed to buy it. You're supposed to accept it. Isn't that what being a friend means?"  
>Rouge shook her head, "no, Shadow. It means to feel concern when they're upset, feel happy for them when something good happens; listen to them when they need to be heard. To be friend means to take care of someone you care about, and if I'm not doing that then I'm not a very good friend then, am I?" Shadow looked at her with astonishment, "…what?" she asked.<br>"That was so corny," he said, slipping a smile. Rouge laughed again, punching him playfully in the shoulder.  
>"Shut up, you jerk," she taunted. Shadow chuckled and looked at his tea.<br>"…Do you think he hates me?" he asked, now in a serious, and sad, tone. Rouge stared at nothing in thought for a moment.  
>"…well… he might hate you right now, but I don't think it's a long term thing. I'm sure Sonic isn't even capable of hatred, really," she stated as she took another sip of her tea, "…I think you should talk to him tomorrow."<br>"I can't," Shadow said, "He has school tomorrow, and so do I." Shadow had taken up to going to college, and so far, he was doing fairly well.  
>"Have him meet you at the college then."<br>Shadow sighed, "I don't know, I think I should leave him alone for a while before I talk to him… he seems pretty pissed." He moved from the kitchen to the living room, sitting on a large leather couch. Rouge followed and sat beside him.  
>"I conquer, friend," she said. Shadow chuckled and wrapped his arm around her, making her cuddle with him. This was something they did often simply because they were best friends, what best friends don't cuddle? Shadow sighed again.<br>"Want to watch Netflix?"


	5. Chapter Five - The Confession

Sonic was silent most of the walk home from the boardwalk. Knuckles and Tails talked loud enough for Sonic to hear, but he chose not to really listen. He heard bits and pieces here and there; nothing all too important. Sonic was in his own little world, thinking about what happened earlier that day.  
>He felt guilty about making such a scene at the boardwalk, sort of acted like a little bitch for such a manner of actions, but emotions just flooded him. He yelled at Shadow, embarrassing him in front of all those people, including Rouge who was standing right beside him! Sonic sighed ashamed, and Knuckles and Tails caught this.<br>"Sonic? You okay?" Tails asked in ernest.  
>Sonic nodded, "yeah, I'm alright. Just... just thinking, thats all." Knuckles smirked a bit.<br>"Thinking about Shadow, no doubt. I can't believe you did that in front of all those people, to be honest." Sonic rolled his eyes.  
>"Yeah, why not? I can cause scenes!"<br>"Yes, but you normally dont unless you're extremely, and I mean extremely, passionate about the subject. What's going on, Speed?" Knuckles asked, putting emphasis on the second, 'extremely'.  
>Sonic didn't know how to answer the question. He knew the ruby red echidna was right, and he knew why he was 'passionate', as Knuckles had said, but he couldn't tell them. ...Could he?<br>No. No no, he couldn't. That would be too weird for them to handle. The Great Hero, Sonic Muarice Speed, and the Ultimate Life Form, Shadow Alexander Graves, together as a loving couple? The media would have a field day with that story, not that Sonic was worried about Tails and Knuckles leaking out the information for extra cash. They would betray his trust like that, and besides, they had so much money already, an extra fifty dollars would be like rag money.  
>It was just the idea that seemed so odd, even to Sonic himself.<br>Sonic sighed, "...it's just... I don't know he just really pissed me off." Tails made an inquizative face.  
>"When? You had only seen him once before, and I don't believe you made any contact with him. Was it before your party?" the two-tailed fox asked.<br>Sonic shook his head, "no..."  
>"Then it was after the party?"<br>"...I guess." Sonic began to let his guard down a bit. Knuckles looked at Tails, then at Sonic.  
>"...was Shadow's ring his birthday present to you, Sonic? Was that in the black box?" he asked. Sonic looked at him.<br>"How do you know about the black box? Or if Shadow got me a present at all?"  
>"Because I talked to him before hand and I saw the box that said, 'to Faker'."<br>Sonic's eyes widened, "you talked to him before hand? What did you say to him?"  
>"Why do you care about what I said to him?" Knuckles asked, the smirk returning.<br>"Because I-... I don't know, I just want to know what you told him," Sonic defended. Tails and Knuckles looked at eachother, chuckling a bit. This seemed to irritate the already blushing hedgehog. "What you two girls giggling about?" This only caused them to laugh harder, and this made Sonic blush even further. "What is so goddamn funny?"  
>That's when the two looked at Sonic, "you have a crush on Shadow!" they stated in unison. Sonic's pupils shrunk, and he now began to sweat.<br>"What!? Dont be so ridiculous, you guys! I like guys like-! Like-!" Knuckles smiled wider.  
>"Like Shadow?"<br>"No!"  
>Tails then to think appropriate to reinact Sonic and his beloved crush on the brooding hedgehog, "Oh, Shadow! You're so dark and mysterious! I want you to make me a real man!" Knuckles laughed as Sonic covered his face with his left hand.<br>"No! No! No!" he yelled as Tails continued.  
>"Oh, what Shadow? You wish for me to elope with you and run away with you into the country of Italy? Oh of course I will, you hunky hedgehog!" Sonic then looked at Tails.<br>"Will you stop!? It would never happen! And if it did, it wouldn't be Italy. It would be Ireland."  
>Knuckles pointed Sonic, "ooh! You admitted it!" Tails 'ooh'ed as well. Sonic groaned and covered his face again as Knuckles and Tails laughed. Knuckles then put an arm around Sonic's shoulder, "man, it's okay. I just don't see why you had to hide it. You know we would have been okay with it." Sonic looked away<br>"I didn't want you guys to think I was weird."  
>"Oh we already think that," Tails said with a smirk. Sonic glared playfully at his orange-yellow friend.<br>Knuckles chuckled, "besides, rememeber how we acted when you came out of the closet? We all accepted you all the same. Hell, most of us knew already!"  
>Sonic looked at him, "really? What gave it away?"<br>Tails looked ahead, "well, you sort've had a thing for Jet's butt for awhile, remember?"  
>Sonic thought about it, "...you guys caught that?"<br>Knuckles nodded, "all the time, my friend."  
>"Oh..."<br>Knuckles let go of Sonic, "anyway, my point is, we would have accepted this too, you know. We're your pals, man, and will be for a very long time."  
>Sonic smiled at the two, "thanks guys."<br>They smiled back him, then they continued to walk home with Knuckles and Tails talking about something else, trying to conserved their masculinity that they let out during that heartfelt moment between the three of them, and Sonic went back to thinking, only about how lucky he was to have those two as his best friends.


End file.
